On NPR while driving recently I heard Beethoven's Grosse Fugue as played by the Emerson String Quartet. I generally like the Emerson. I have several of their recordings - a Mozart disc that I like, for instance. I decidedly did not like this rendition.
Late Beethoven quartets don't catch my attention as much as the early ones especially opus 59, 74 and 95. Still, I like the Grosse Fugue. It moves me. Usually. With the Emerson recording, they sounded a bit like a 33 1/3 recording played at 45 speed. Not attractive. Everything was rushed. That's fine if there are no nuances in the piece but, well, you can figure out the rest. It sounded a bit like a parody, I thought. Can't recommend.
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